KRONAK THE BARBARIANKRONAK THE BARBARIAN
Real Name: Kronak
Identity/Class: Human, magic user, extradimensionsional (Terragonia)
Occupation: Mercenary, warrior, soldier, pirate, Captain of the Guards of the King, tyrant.
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Dragonus, his soldiers;
formerly
King
Modrian, King Ystrigall
Enemies: Hulk, King Modrian, Shamu-Shan, the people of Terragonia
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Terragonia
First Appearance: Incredible Hulk II#201 (July, 1976)
{Edizione Italiana L'Uomo Ragno#229 Editoriale Corno (12 febbraio 1979)}
Powers/Abilities: Kronak is very strong (athlete level) and is an exceptional warrior, he is highly skilled in swordfighting and hand-to-hand combat. He also possessed the Ruby of Shadows, that gave him unknown magic powers, such as summoning creatures from other dimensions.
History:
(Incredible Hulk II#201 (fb)) - Kronak was born in the lands of north. During a
summer, when Kronak was not still 20, he participated in the battle of Aragon
becoming a true warrior.
King Ystrigall hired him in his army, for the war between the two
cities Gurdun and Kammatet. Kronak killed many enemies, but was wounded by a
Gurdunian, and lost his right eye.
Kronak deserted and became a pirate. For a while, he plundered the
coast with his ship: the Black Lion.
(Incredible Hulk II#201 (fb)) - Then, Kronak became the Captain
of the personal Guard of King Modrian of Terragonia's; but Kronak wanted the King's
Ruby of Shadows and crown, and, during a stormy night, he killed King Modrian
and usurped the throne of Terragonia.
Kronak, with the help of the War Lord Dragonus, ruled the Realm of
Terragonia with an iron fist, becoming a tyrant and an oppressor.
(Incredible Hulk II#201) - One day, a slim man was brought in chains at the presence of Kronak. King Kronak was informed by Dragonus that the prisoner was the champion of his oppressed people. The prisoner pleaded Kronak to be cautious, but the barbarian ordered to his soldiers to bring the prisoner into the arena.
There the people had to attend to the duel between their
King, Kronak, perhaps the strongest warrior in the realm, and a weak man, unable
to lift his sword. Without mercy, Kronak attacked the man who soon transformed in a green giant:
the Hulk, the champion of the oppressed
people.
Kronak was swiftly overcome by the Hulk's strength, so he
used the Ruby of Shadows to summon a huge red being, the enchanted Guardian of
the Gem, to fight in his
place. The Hulk defeated the Ruby Guardian. Kronak then ordered to his soldiers to
attack the Hulk, but the jade giant soon again confronted the barbarian. Kronak
broke his sword on the Hulk's skin and was thrown by Hulk into the howling crowd,
who took its revenge against the tyrant.
Comments: Created by Len Wein, Sal Buscema and Joe Staton.
The first time I read the story I thought at a
sub-dimensional world, but Kronak also could live in a divergent Timeline in a
time equivalent to the Hyborian Era. These could be the correspondences in order
of appearance or naming:
| Terragonia | Earth-616 Hyborian Era |
| Terragonia | Aquilonia or Tarantia |
| Kronak the Barbarian | Conan the Barbarian |
| Aragon | Venarium |
| Gurdun and Kammatet | Turan and Makkalet |
| King Ystrigall | King Yildiz or Yedzigerd |
| During the war Kronak was wounded by a Gurdunian to an eye and gained a long scar on the face | During the war Conan wounded Yedzigerd of Turan and left him a long scar on the face |
| Kronak's ship of pirates was the Black Lion | Conan tamed Shulo (Amra's black lion) and then was known as Amra on the Black Coast |
| King Modrian | King Numedides |
| Drox | Mitra?, Crom? |
| The Ruby of Shadows | The Heart of Ahriman |
| The Guardian of the Ruby | Only a slight physical resemblance with the Guardian of the Pit of Skelos |
Hulk arrived at Terragonia thanks to the Micro-Cannon, built
based on a project of Henry Pym. But it could also be that Shamu-Shan
enchantment summoned Hulk from the Talbot's mind transporting it on the
diverging reality, and that when the spell effects faded, the miniaturization
restarted to work (or a lot of other possibilities).
Note, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe
Edition: Appendix to alternate dimensions, classifies Terragonia as a
Micro-World, but there's no reason it couldn't still be some sort of alternate
Earth developing under such conditions. Nonetheless, it is a world of swords and
sorcery.
Further, all of the Micro-Realms have apparently been merged
into a single dimension during an unpublished conflict between Thanos and Baron
Karza.
--Snood
Clarifications:
Kronak the Barbarian is probably an extradimensional
counterpart of
and has no known connections to
Aragon has no known connections to
Dragonus has no known connections to
Shamu-Shan has no known connections to
(Incredible Hulk II#201 (fb)) - King Modrian was the ruler of the Realm of Terragonia. He wielded the Ruby of Shadows.
(Incredible Hulk II#201 (fb)) - Modrian was considered a gentle ruler by his people. Modrian hired Kronak to defend his own person and the Ruby of Shadows, but Kronak betrayed him, and during a night full of thunderbolts and dark clouds, the King was killed by his bodyguard.
--Incredible Hulk II#201 (201 (fb, dies)
Dragonus is a magician and possibly an alchemist.
It is unclear if Dragonus was at Kronak's flank before the barbarian usurped the crown. Dragonus became the War Lord of the Realm and helped Kronak to keep the people of Terragonia under his heel.
(Incredible Hulk II#201) - One day he saw a green giant demon assaulting the Royal Palace
and pulling the guardsmen away as they were leaves muddled by the storm.
Dragonus concealed in the shadows and some seconds later threw a vial containing a special liquid at the giant's feet. The liquid generated a smoke
that melted the ground and a wall of the Castle. The wall fell on and covered
the giant. Dragonus ordered the soldiers to
remove the blocks and kill the demon, but all they were surprised when they found
a slim man under the debris.
Hours later Dragonus had the weak man brought to the presence
of Kronak, accusing him of being the champion of the people of Terragonia and an
illusionist.
Shortly after, Dragonus followed his King into the arena. He announced the start of the duel between Kronak and Banner. When he understood the result of the duel, he fled.
--Incredible Hulk II#201
The Guards of
the Royal Palace of Terragonia
The soldiers of the Guard were normal humans, trained to fight with various weapons, such as sword, spear, shield. They didn't wear armor, only a helm, and usually carried a sword and a round shield.
(Incredible Hulk II#201 (fb)) - The guards protected the Castle of the King and some of them were the King's personal escort. One day, the King hired Kronak who became the Captain of the guards. They didn't do a good job when Kronak killed King Modrian, but they then became servants of Kronak.
(Incredible Hulk II#201) - The Guards of the Palace tried to defend the Palace when the "green demon" attacked, but all their weapons were broken when hit the demon, moreover they were too weak for the incredible power of the demon. They were helped by Dragonus in defeating him.
Hours later, many of them, garrisoned the arena where the
people attended to the duel.
At Kronak's order they intervened and surrounded the green beast,
but they were easily thrown away. Then the people invaded the arena and
overthrew them. The few guards remaining ran away.
--Incredible Hulk II#201
Shamu-Shan was a wizard. He worshipped several Gods, and one of them was Drox.
(Incredible Hulk II#201 (fb)) - He wasn't an enemy of King Modrian, but when Kronak usurped the Golden Throne of Terragonia he stayed with the oppressed people of Terragonia, and decided to help them.
(Incredible Hulk II#201) - For several days he prayed the ancient Gods till he summoned a champion for his people. He was really surprised to see that the champion was a monster, a demon, but soon understood that the monster could help them. Shamu-Shan calmly explained the situation to the Hulk, convincing him to give them the help they needed.
(Incredible Hulk II#201 - BTS) - Shamu-Shan and his helpers went to the Arena, where the King had to fight against the Champion of the people.
(Incredible Hulk II#201) - At the Arena, when the giant demon defeated the guards in the Arena, he and the other people intervened and battled the soldiers, defeating them. But he wasn't in time to thank the Hulk because the green giant shrunk in size and disappeared at his feet. All that remained was a fragment Ruby of Shadows.
--Incredible Hulk II#201
The oppressed
People of Terragonia
It is unknown how much vast is/was Terragonia's territory. Terragonia had a King, but Shamu-Shan claimed after Kronak's fall that Terragonia was a fallen empire. If so, it is very wide.
The People of Terragonia are pink-skinned and seem like the Caucasian/western European people. The level of civilization is approximately medieval-type, or equivalent to the Hyborian Era at the time of Conan. They probably worshipped several gods, but the only two mentioned were Drox.
(Incredible Hulk II#201 (fb) - BTS) - When the Terragonians were ruled by King Modrian they were treated gently by him, but Kronak instead ruled them with despotism.
(Incredible Hulk II#201) - Shamu-Shan helped the people by summoning a green demon (the Hulk). When the demon arrived on their world and seemed that he wanted to assault the wizard, they were ready to defend their friend and to attack the demon. With Shamu-Shan's explanation, the green demon agreed to become their champion.
(Incredible Hulk II#201 - BTS) - They probably heard that the King was going to duel against a champion in the arena, so they went there in hopes to seeing the King defeated.
(Incredible Hulk II#201) - In fact, the Hulk, defeated Kronak and his guards, and then the people intervened and battled the soldiers, defeating them, doing their job in freeing themselves from the tyranny.
--Incredible Hulk II#201
The Ruby of Shadows was a source of magic power.
It is unclear what powers
the Ruby could give to his wielder. Kronak used the magic words to summon the Guardian of the Ruby: a huge,
monstrous, red-ruby being, twice as tall as the Hulk and with super-human
strength
(Class 90?) comparable to Hulk's strength.
It is rather sure that the will-power of the wielder was the power source of the Ruby. Kronak's concentration wasn't so good, and Hulk could smash the Guardian. The Guardian's defeat probably caused Kronak's self-confidence to break. At any rate, the Ruby shattered after the Hulk smashed the Guardian, which caused the Guardian to vanish back to its nether realm.
--Incredible Hulk II#201
Images:
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 3, panel 7 (Kronak the Barbarian)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 9, panel 2 (King Kronak, head
shot)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 4, panel 4 (King Modrian)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 8, panel 6 (Dragonus)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 15, panel 5 (Guards)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 2, panel 1 (Shamu-Shan)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page , panel 6 (Terragonians)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 12, panel 4 (Ruby of Shadows)
Incredible Hulk II#201, page 13, panel 1 (Guardian of the
Ruby)
First Posted: 05/14/2005
Last updated: 05/14/2005
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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King Modrian
